Remember Benghazi

In history there have been a number of memorable phrases. Two that come to mind are “Remember the Maine” and “Remember the Alamo”. Both are important to the history of our great country. I offer one that is their equal or perhaps their superior. “Remember Benghazi”. That simple call should be a watchword of today’s generation of those that care.

The debacle at Benghazi, not one scandal but four separate examples of the ineptness and shallowness of the Obama regime, should be remembered forever as the absolute low point of American governance.

Scandal number one is the period before the attack. The consulate had been attacked previously to the extent that a hole had been blown through the wall large enough to allow the attackers in. This hole had never been repaired. It was known that there were Al Qaeda groups in the area and that the consulate was in danger due to a secret war in Africa. This war was being run by John Brennan through the White House without the knowledge of the State Department, the CIA, or the Pentagon. The important thing, however, is that the ambassador requested more security to protect Americans and American soil in this highly volatile area.

The requested security personnel were not forthcoming. As I understand it, there are only two people in government that can refuse an ambassador’s direct request. That is the Secretary of State or the President. So the question is by whom and why was that request denied? Secretary Clinton testified. But she shed no light on these questions. Her most monumental statement was “what does it matter now?”. I think it does still matter to many of us. It matters a great deal.

Scandal number two is that during the attack. Ambassador Stevens begged for help. Once again, he was denied. The attack was monitored by two drones overhead. The video link was monitored at the State Department and, it has recently been suggested, by the Vice President. Who knows how many more people in government were watching? The administration is not saying. Our brave people, that were under fire, had laser target designators and were experienced operators. There were F-18s at Aviano AFB in Italy and, early on it was said, an AC-130 gunship possibly at Sigonella NAS in Sicily. Either one, an hour away, could have altered the results of that seven hour battle. So the statement that no support was available will not hold water. Again the same question. Who and why?

This brings us to scandal number three. The cover up. Make no mistake, everybody involved, from the President on down, knew that this was not a mob action brought about by some dumb movie that no one had even seen. They knew this was an all out attack by Al Qaeda or a surrogate. For seven weeks they tried to peddle this implausible story. Even with the help of the ever willing press the story never grew legs. Americans are smarter then our politicians think they are. The American people “got it“. But even to this day the President is claiming the problem was “a little sloppiness in the State Department“. A little sloppiness in the State Department does not account for the deaths of four American heroes. Once again we must ask, who and why?

Before we get to the fourth scandal, I think that we can get a hint of the why of all this. President Obama led from the rear, as you will recall, in Libya. The country was thrown into total chaos with no obvious leadership. Mr. Obama was desperate to prove he knew what he was doing and that his tactics were successful. He had to prove that Libya was calm and under control. It wasn’t. So a political decision was made and a fantasy story was woven, hoping the results of obfuscation would be fortuitous. They weren’t. Most of us learn as children that these things never work. I guess if you live in your own fantasy world………

So, on to the final scandal. Number four. The facts are simple. General David Petraeus repeated the administrations story after the fact. A few days passed and he admitted to an affair and resigned. Then he rescinded his original story. We will probably never know exactly what went on, but we can make a guess. I’d guess that he liked his CIA post and wanted to keep it. I’d guess that to do that he agreed to support the administration. I’d guess that his warrior’s sense of honor kicked in and he changed his mind. A lot of people went under the bus on this one.

So we must remember Benghazi. Time has passed and the administration wants it to go away. The American people still deserve answers. As usual the main stream media is giving this a pass. Those of us that write because we care, must stay on this story. This is bigger and more important than Watergate. I don’t intend to let it pass. I hope there are others with me.

Robert Owen blogs at Cranky Conservative; he started his blog at the end of last March and it been read in 59 countries around the world. Robert has been a political junkie since he was a wee small child, about the time FDR passed and turned the country over to HST. He has run for political office twice (unsuccessfully) and has run campaigns for others. Robert was a Republican in those days; he now considers himself a Constitutional Conservative. He attended American International College where he got some background in economics. Most of his life he made his living in engineering and hi-tech sales. Robert has also been a lifelong shooter (mostly pistol). He is retired now and spends most of his time writing things to annoy liberals and weak-kneed Republicans and sometimes to inform those that may not have been paying attention.